Moving HQ overseas: Rony Ross, Panorama Software (Interview)
Filed under: Business Intelligence, IT management, Information Technology, SaaS, cloud computing
Rony Ross
Last month I posted an interview with Rony Ross about being a successful woman in technology. Aside from this, we also discussed in depth the business intelligence software company that she founded, Panorama Software, including its growth over the years, business intelligence (BI) trends and what we can expect from Panorama this year. Here is that part of our discussion.
Panorama Software was founded in 1993 and moved its headquarters to North America in 2003, what factors went into the decision to move the headquarters?
In 2002, Panorama realized that the marketplace for its products is growing and decided to become a global company. We decided we needed a North American presence, including sales, marketing, support, finance and product management and that moving the headquarters to North America was a logical step.
We evaluated various locations, and were determined to concentrate on locations that had daily direct flights to Israel. One of Panorama’s directors suggested Toronto, Canada. It was deemed a great choice, both for the favorable (at the time) value of the Canadian Dollar vs. the US dollar, as well as having daily direct flights to Israel.
What steps did the move entail?
A few people relocated to Toronto, including myself and Eynav Azarya who has since become Panorama’s CEO. We recruited quite a lot of people in Toronto, as well as in various locations in the US. We moved our finance operations, as well as our Marketing, Product Management and parts of our Worldwide support.
Panorama Pivot Table for Google Docs
What are some of the BI trends that we can expect to see in 2010?
I believe that in 2010 we shall see Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) BI picking up and becoming an option of choice for many organizations as a way to extend their BI deployment within and outside the firewall. Many organizations will adopt a hybrid strategy, where they will be running applications on the cloud while maintaining full control and ownership of data on-premise.
What can we expect to see from Panorama Software in 2010?
Panorama will deliver great BI solutions that are based on Microsoft Office, SQL and SharePoint platforms. Our goal for 2010 is to extend the use of these great products, while providing an even better end user experience and enabling enterprise companies to deploy an end-to-end BI solution for the organization. We will also release a new version of our SaaS BI module.
Trusteer and 10 Israel-related Headlines, Week of January 31, 2010
Filed under: Cleantech, Company Briefs, Environment, IT management, Information Technology
During the week of January 31, 2010, the possibility of Israel joining the European Union was analyzed in depth. Research by Israeli information security company Trusteer found that two thirds of online banking customers reuse their login information and Continuity Software released its latest version of RecoverGuard. For these stories and more, here’s this weeks Israel-related headlines:
Cleantech
1. Israel’s top ten water technology companies that help keep the world liquid
2. Israel’s Eilat Region Could Be Middle East’s Clean Tech Beta Site
Investments and Economy
3. Is it possible that Israel will join the European Union?
4. Treasury chief: Boosting Arab and Haredi employment would make Israel rich
Information Technology
5. Too many people re-use logins, study finds
6. Close-up with Laura Howard, CMO, ECI Telecom
7. Continuity Software RecoverGuard Version 5.0 Enables Customers to Fully Ensure Business Continuity
Miscellaneous
8. ‘Ajami’ nominated for Oscar
9. Israel’s Time To Know Aims To Revolutionize The Classroom
10. Israeli Economic Engine Now Seen Humming Along
Women in Technology: Rony Ross, Panorama Software (Interview)
Filed under: Business Intelligence, IT management, Information Technology, Science, Uncategorized
Rony Ross
There is an ongoing discussion in Israel about women in the sciences and technology and the conditions women find themselves in in the field. The discussion was renewed by the Jerusalem Post in October 2009 after Israel’s Ada Yonath won the Nobel Prize in chemistry when it published a piece on the difficulties of receiving research grants and getting a fair salary in Israel. Shortly thereafter I continued my series on women in tech with a post about some of the unique challenges that women face in Israel.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Rony Ross, the founder and current chairwoman of Panorama Software, a business intelligence software company. Ross was born and raised in Israel and overcame challenges as a female entrepreneur to grow Panorama into the successful company that it is today.
Around what age did you become interested in technology?
I excelled in mathematics as a teenager, and shortly thereafter got interested in computer software. I studied Mathematics and Computer Science for my B. Sc and M.S degrees. While working on my Masters dissertation at the Weizmann Institute of Science, my professor, Amir Pnueli (winner of the Turing Award), offered me to join the software development department of one of the first hi-tech companies in Israel – SciTex. I went to visit the SciTex facility, and what I saw was so amazing and compelling that I could not believe someone was going to pay me in order to work in something that looked to be so much fun.
How did you get into the field?
I worked in Software Development, got my MBA degree in parallel, and moved to senior IT management positions. It was only after 40 that I became an entrepreneur and started my own business. A couple of years later, while working on other projects, we hit upon the idea of developing a product in the Business Intelligence field. This product developed into Panorama – a very compelling offering in the online analytical processing (OLAP) side of the Business Intelligence domain. We sold the product successfully to over 50 of the Israeli Fortune 100 companies in under 2 years. Then we met with Microsoft and they loved the product so much they offered to buy the company after the first 3 hours of the meeting. This became the first classic “exit” of an Israeli software company selling to a US software giant.
What obstacles have you faced as a female founder of a company?
When I was developing my first product I tried to raise capital from venture capitalists and failed. I had a very competitive product in a growing field, with established, paying customers who could testify to the value proposition, with a good business plan, etc. I tried practically all the VCs who were in business at the time – and failed with all of them. I believe that this failure is largely due to the fact that I am a woman entrepreneur. A guy with the same credential would have succeeded. (Of course, this impediment became a blessing when I sold the technology to Microsoft and had no VC to share the income with…)
In recent years, have you seen more or less women going into technology?
When I studied Mathematics, almost half the students were women. There were a lot of women in IT in the period that preceded the PC’s. However, with the outbreak of the early home PC’s , there was a distinct advantage to youngsters with affinity to technical skills (even manual technical skills), and I find that young girls are less interested in disassembling and assembling technical kits. So for many years girls felt “excluded” from the Computer Science field, and opted for other careers. Still, many found their way eventually into hi tech in various positions – but very few made it to the top. However, in recent years I’ve seen a surge of young female entrepreneurs, especially in the Internet arena, which is a very promising sign.
What do you think can be done to get more women in Israel in technology?
Education, education, education. The key is to raise the awareness of girls from an early age about the advantages of making a career in technology fields. These are top paying jobs, and women should target them.
Jajah and 13 Israel-related Headlines, Week of December 20, 2009
Filed under: Cleantech, Company Briefs, Environment, IT management, Industry pulse, Information Technology, Mergers and Acquisitions, Uncategorized
During the week of December 20, 2009, O2 confirmed that it is buying Israel-based Internet phone company, Jajah. Facial recognition security company C-True announced that Brinks is its latest customer and oil was found in Israel. For these stories and more, check out this week’s headlines below.
Cleantech
1. Michigan Looks to Israel to Rev Up Automotive Battery Business
2. SunPower and SolarPower Ltd. Dedicate 50-Kilowatt Solar Power System for HP in Israel
Investments and Economy
3. O2: Yes, we’re acquiring Internet phone company Jajah
4. Israel May Beat Growth and Deficit Estimates, Steinitz Says
Information Technology
5. Israeli company to beta cost-reducing content delivery technology
6. C-TRUE Provide Face Recognition Security Solutions to Brinks
7. All Quiet in the Data Center
8. Israel’s fastest growing software companies of 2009
9. Web Host Datapipe Teams with Applicure for Website Security
10. 2009: Sarah Lacy and the Israeli Web Revisited
Miscellaneous
11. Tourism Ministry presents three-year plan
12. Amazon’s Kindle has copyright protection hacked
13. Oil well with potential found in Israel
Clarizen and Kaltura in IDC’s top 10 Innovative Applications Companies Under $100M to Watch
Filed under: IT management, Information Technology, SaaS, Uncategorized, Video, Web2.0, cloud computing, open source, virtualization
Israeli companies Kaltura and Clarizen have been included in IDC’s top 10 innovative applications companies under $100M to watch.
According to IDC chosen companies were identified based on whether they exemplified one or more of three key trends in applications today, which the company cited in January 2009 to be:
- Acceleration of software as a service (SaaS), business process outsourcing (BPO), and open source over traditional on-premise software
- New business models for software use by service providers (software-within-a-service)
- Web 2.0-like functionality moves into the enterprise (e2.0).
Clarizen is a project management software company that allows contributors to edit at the same time and for the changes to be visible immediately to anyone involved on the project. Last week it reported that it gained over 100 new customers in Q3. Clarizen is headquartered in Israel with its US headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Kaltura, according to its site, is “the first open source video platform for online video management, creation, interaction & collaboration.” Earlier today it was listed as one of 49 hot new open source applications on Earthweb.com as a video tool. The company has an R&D center in Israel.
Toyota and 12 Israel-related Headlines, Week of June 28, 2009
Filed under: Cleantech, Environment, IT management, Uncategorized, VC, cloud computing, security, virtualization
During the week of June 28, 2009, news surfaced that Toyota is mulling investing in Israeli hi-tech companies that can help make its cars cleaner, while it seems that clean technology investments are increasing again. Indicating that virtualization is still a hot investment, Neebula, which develops management tools for virtual computer environments and was founded earlier this year, raised $5 million. In security, Israeli researchers have created a deep zoom application for videos making idenitifcation in them easier. For these stories and more, see this week’s 12 Israel-related headlines below.
Cleantech
1. Toyota considering Israeli high-tech investments
2. No More Crying Over Spilt Milk With AfiMilk
3. Israeli researchers desalinating sewage for agricultural use
Investment
4. Clean Technology Investment Rebounds
5. Why Israeli Stocks and Currency Should Outperform Now
Information Technology
6. Israeli Experts Create Deep Zoom Tool for Videos
7. Touch in Windows 7: Just for show?
8. Cyber-security looms large for ATC
9. Virtualization co Neebula raises $5 million
Miscellaneous
10. Young Jewish leaders gather for global summit
11. Netanya aims to be Middle East’s Ibiza
12. LIFE in Israel in 1948 – Part 1
Confidela and 15 Israel-related headlines from the week of May 31, 2009
Filed under: Cleantech, Company Briefs, IT management, Industry pulse, Information Technology, SaaS, Uncategorized, VC, Web2.0
During the week of May 31, 2009, Sunday Energy, SolarEdge and Ormat all had major announcements related to providing alternative energy in Israel, while GameGround and The Box successfully raised funds. In IT, Discretix explained the threat of bank accounts being hacked on mobile phones and Trusteer signed a contract with PSECU in England. For these stories and the rest of this week’s 15 Israel-related headlines, check below.
Cleantech
1. Sunday Energy forges new ground in Israel with Ormat
2. Israeli firm boosts performance of photovoltaic solar array
3. Exploiting Limited Resources
Investments
4. GameGround snags $4.1 million from Sequoia for gamer services
5. Investment in Green Energy Quadruples in 4 Years
6. Israel’s The Box Secures Funding from Greylock Partners to Target US and Other International Markets
Information Technology
7. PC Touch-Screen Technology Moving Beyond Curiosity
8. How much serious is the threat of hacking bank accounts via mobile phones? (Discretix)
9. PSECU Secures Web Channel with Trusteer
10. Virtualize Your Internet Connection with BufferZone
11. WatchDox Makes Document Security Simple
Miscellaneous
12. Central Park’s Tel Aviv ‘beach party’
13. Video: Microsoft’s Project Natal in action
14. Nestle producing new breakfast cereal in Sderot
15. Brain research center to be built at Hebrew University
14 Israel-related headlines from the week of May 10, 2009
Filed under: Cleantech, Company Briefs, Environment, IT management, Information Technology, Uncategorized, VC, Web2.0
During the week of May 10, 2009, solar power received significant attention between Aora’s solar panel technology and BrightSource striking the largest ever solar power deal in the United States. Better Place demonstrated its battery swap technology and Hacktics, an applications security company, raised 2.2 million Euro. OpTier, Correlix, and Promisec, along with 13 other Israeli companies were listed on Red Herring’s 100 and the social streaming video provider, Boxee’s plans to make its software available to the Windows market was discussed. For more on these stories and the rest of this week’s 14 Israel-related headlines, check below.
Cleantech
1. Aora Makes The Desert Bloom With Sunshine Flower Power
2. PG&E expands solar power plans
3. Better Place demonstrates battery swap technology in Japan
Investments
4. Mo’Minis Finds Mo Money For Mo Games
5. Applications security co Hacktics raises €2.2m
Information Technology
6. Intel Israel: Don’t just think fast, think ahead
7. Start-up Testuff Selected as One of the Best and Most Promising Start-ups by IGT
8. OpTier, Correlix, PromiSec Red Herring 100 finalists
9. ClickSoftware releases the integration between ClickSchedule 7.1 and mySAP CRM 3.1
10. WeFi Launches on Android, Enabling Automatic Connection To Best Available Wi-Fi Hotspot
Miscellaneous
11. Microsoft’s gesture-based game control to debut in 2010
13. Decline in demand for hi-tech jobs slows in April
14. Taylor Swift’s Music Is Safe To Drive To
Tufin on the rise
Filed under: IT management, Information Technology, Software, Uncategorized, Video, data security
Tufin Technologies, which provides Security Lifecycle Management solutions, has really picked up steam since the beginning of the year. The company, which is five years old, has won three awards in recent weeks and recently attended the RSA conference (the largest infosec conference of its kind) in San Francisco, where the above video was recorded.
Last week it announced that its flagship product, SecureTrack, was named Best Enterprise Security Solution by SC Magazine UK, and received an honorable mention as the Best Security Management Solution.
According to Tufin’s Website,
“Tufin’s Security Lifecycle Management solutions automate policy management for leading firewall and networking vendors including Check Point Software, Juniper, Cisco, Fortinet, F5 and BlueCoat, resulting in more manageable, efficient and cost effective security operations. Its flagship product SecureTrack, helps security operations teams to control and manage policy changes, analyze risks, and ensure business continuity. With SecureTrack, managers easily understand the big picture and align operations with corporate and Government security standards.”
Tufin also made InformationWeek’s Startup 50 list of young companies recognized for delivering innovative, high value, enterprise ready solutions and was named best Security Lifecycle Management Solution by InfoSecurity Products Guide.
In addition to SecureTrack, the company offers SecureChange Workflow and the newly-released (at the RSA conference), Tufin Open Platform (TOP).
Sentrigo Enters Database Vulnerability Assessment Market
Filed under: Data Storage, IT management, Partnerships, Uncategorized, Video, data security
Sentrigo, an Israel-based database security software company, announced last week that it has become the sole distributor of Repscan by Red-Database-Security, “the only 360-degree database vulnerability assessment and security scanning software available for Oracle databases.”
The move helps Sentrigo solidify its hold on the database security market by complementing its Hedgehog database activity monitoring software with software that monitors and identifies Oracle database weaknesses and vulnerablities. In specific, Repscan can “detect insecure PL/SQL code and forensic traces; database modifications; insecure system configuration settings; and weak, shared and default passwords.”
Some main Repscan features include:
- Report-driven penetration testing
- Altered data detection (privileged and user tables)
- Forensic trace discovery from common security and hacker tools
- Automatic conversion of the weaknesses found by Repscan into protection rules and policies in the Sentrigo Hedgehog Database Security Suite
According to Sentrigo’s website, Hedgehog Enterprise
“is for organizations that require breach prevention, end-user identification, virtual patching, integration with your existing security infrastructure, IT governance and operate with enterprise-wide database deployment.”
The software also
“provides full visibility into all database activity including local privileged access, protects the database in real-time with actionable alerts and prevention capabilities, and allows enterprises to enforce security policy and comply with regulatory requirements, such as PCI DSS, Sarbanes-Oxley, SAS 70 and HIPAA.”
As an aside, Oracle is currently in talks to purchase Sun Microsystems for over $7 billion and enter the hardware market.
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